My daughter’s good friend and neighbor owns 15 dogs. She is sixteen years old, and she is a dog musher.

Last year she and her team ran (and finished) the Junior Iditarod. My daughter loves going down the hill to help with the dogs – feeding, exercising, brushing, cleaning pens, hanging out. It’s her favorite thing to do when she’s done with her chores and work around the house.

So after the Halloween festivities on Wednesday, my daughter begs for a sleepover with Christina…. so they can wake up before dawn and go run the sled team before starting school.

For the love of dogs and adventure, these two young ladies will be out in the pre-dawn darkness, cold and shivering in the frozen woods, running a team of delighted and eager dogs for hours. For the love of dogs, these kids will be so far out in the wild that their cell phones have no reception and their happy shouts and whistles will only be heard by the wild animals and the silent trees.

I wish every parent could be this lucky, to have a kid that loves dogs so much.

What I’m Reading: I’m getting close to finishing The Culture Code. I came across a goal-achieving method that relies on something called “mental contrasting.” It’s pretty simple. Step one: envision a realistic goal that you’d like to achieve. Learn to play the cello, lose weight, learn a new language. Imagine that you’d achieved your goal, that you were “that person”. Step two: vividly picture all the obstacles between you and your goal. Don’t minimize those obstacles – really imagine them as if they were happening to you.

And….. That’s it. Oddly, it works. In several studies, it’s been shown to increase results as much as 60% more than a control group.

More, mental contrasting has been shown to improve other endeavors, such as interacting positively with strangers, speaking in public, managing time, and more. Somehow the mental contrast between clearly seeing the goal “state” and really envisioning the inevitable obstacles created a path to success. I don’t agree with the rest of the reasoning the book gives for the “why” – I have my own opinions there.

Do you have any thoughts on why that might be so?

Nick’s Real Estate Tip: The market doesn’t slow down in the Winter, only agents do. We are already seeing our MLS numbers drop because agents are tired and taking a breather. The best business advice ever is to look at what your competition is doing and do the exact opposite. LEARN MORE

Quick Web Tip: Quick Web Tip: Your “About Me” page isn’t actually about you! Your website visitors don’t want a history lesson, they want to know what YOU can do for THEM and why they should choose you over your competition. Focus on how you can solve their problem.

What I’m Pondering: “Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” – Edward Abbey